The use of polypropylene in pipeline coatings

Despite the fact that the pipeline coating represents only about 5% of the total cost, the choice of the most effective coating is a key point to guarantee the life of the installed pipelines. Since the eighties, polypropylene copolymer coatings have been used for the protection of the external surface of on-shore and off-shore pipelines. Polypropylene is one of the most suitable coatings when high mechanical properties (impact resistance, penetration resistance, etc.) and/or heat resistance are required. Polypropylene has also been used in ordinary pipelines giving advantages compared with the standard coatings, e.g. fusion bonded epoxy resin, coal tar enamel and polyethylene. New applications for polypropylene copolymers such as pipeline coatings have recently been developed, these include an insulating coating obtained with foamed polypropylene and an internal coating obtained by spraying a polypropylene adhesive powder.